Bottle caps



April 22, "1958 J. G. GROENDYK ETAL BOTTLE CAPS Filed Aug. 12, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet 1 //7ve/7/0r$ James 6. Groendy/f Attorneys April 1958 J. G.GROENDYK ETAL 2,831,616.

BOTTLE CAPS Filed Aug. 12, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 zllIIIlI/IIIIIIIIIIJIIII/IIIIIIIIIT Attorneys United States Patent Tenafly, N. J.,assignors to Wilbro Corporation, wood, N. J., a corporation of NewJersey Application August 12, 1955, Serial No. 527,982 8 Claims. (Cl.222394) May- This invention relates to containers having dischargevalves whereby the contents of the container, under pressure in thecontainer or through gravity, can be dispensed as-and when desired.

The use of such containers has in recent years greatly increased due tothe development of propellant gases which are compatible with manycommodities which previously could not be dispensed from pressurizedcontainers. Although the demand for suitable valved containers hasgreatly increased, such containers are still far more expensive thanordinary cans and bottles with the so-called crown caps and have nottherefore been used at all in the beverage field where such dispensingcontainers would be most acceptable.

The object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing containerof the type described which is suitable for all types of beverages, bothaerated and plain, and other commodities sufliciently fluid to bedischarged through a spout, which costs little if any more than a likecontainer with a crown cap or other form of non-dispensing closure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a valved closure whichcan be applied to bottles and cans by closure applying mechanisms now inuse, thereby providing a dispensing container having a valved dischargecomparable in all respects with containers of like character wherein thedischarge valve is an inseparable part of the container itself.

A further object of the invention is to provide a closure of the typedescribed wherein the discharge through the valve is sealed when thecontainer is sold in a manner to be opened by the purchaser by a simplecutting operation whereby slow leakage through the valve during storageperiods is completely avoided.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the followingspecification and drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a preferred form of my valvedcontainer;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the container shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views showing the sectional molds used inthe manufacture of the closure shown in Figs. l-3 inclusive; and

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are sectional views similar to Figs. 1-3 showingalternate forms of the cap shown in Fig. 3.

Referring; to the drawings, particularly Fig. 3, 1 indicates thereceptacle which is a conventional crown can except that the inturnedflange 2. at the top of the neck is inclined downwardly instead of beinghorizontal as is customary when the ordinary crown cap is used as aclosure. The downwardly turned flange provides a suitable seat for theordinary crown cap, as disclosed in Patent No. 2,777,411, grantedJanuary 15, 1957. The neck of the conventional crown can is reduced indiameter below the inturned flange to provide an external shoulderbeneath which the projections on the rim of the bottle cap are forcedwhen the cap is applied to the can. The metal part 3 of the valvedclosure as avoid stripping the caps from Patented Apr. 22, 1958 shown inFigs. 1 and 2 may be of the same shape as the metal part of the ordinarycrown cap except that it has a central circular opening of about thesame diameter as the opening formed by the edge of the inturned flange2.

Fitted within the metal cap 3 is a molded rubber valve member 4 whichhas, formed integrally with it, an outwardly extending flange 5 whichserves as the sealing gasket between the metal cap 3 and the flange 2.The valve member 4 consists of a central stem 6 and a lower valveforming flange 7 of somewhat greater diameter than the opening formed bythe flange 2, so that the flange 7 when thrust into the neck openingwill seat itself against the inner surface of the inwardly anddownwardly turned flange 2.

Projecting upwardly from the rubber valve member adjacent the edge ofthe central opening in the cap 3 is a spout 8 which is closed at itsouter end as shown and connects at its base with the space between thesealing flange 5 and the valve forming flange 7. Also projectingupwardly from the member 4, preferably at a point opposite the spout 8'is a pin 9 whose lower end is seated in a hole 10 extending into thecentral stem at one side.

The valved caps above described are preferably manufactured by themethod described in application Serial No. 410,584, filed February 16,1954, viz., by molding the rubber valves 4 at spaced points against theface of a previously punched sheet 11 of metal of the quality and gaugesuitable for making the caps 3. If desired the reverse side of the metalsheet may be printed around the openings or otherwise decorated beforethe valves 4 are formed and vulcanized against the sheet as described insaid pending application. The entire closure may be removed from the canwith the ordinary bottle opener if it is desired to empty the caninstead of dis charging its contents through the discharge spout 8.

For forming the valves 4 the molds have to be correspondingly modifiedas shown in Figs. 4 and 5. As here shown the bottom mold block 12 isformed with cavities 13 underlying the holes in the sheet 11 to form thespouts 8 and with pins 14 for forming the holes to receive the pins 9.The mid member of the mold is formed of pairs of strips 16 having facingsemicircular notches along their opposite edges of the proper shape toform the gasket portions 5 and the necks 6 of the valves. they may beseparated when the mold is opened and before the midportion of the moldis lifted to thereby the metal sheet 11. Overlylng the mid-section ofthe mold is the upper mold section 17. Cavities of the members 4 areformedin the bottom face in properly spaced relation to be concentricwith the openings formed by the notches in the bars 16 when the bars ofeach pair are brought together. Tapered holes 21 are provided at thecenter of the cavities for the passage of the rubber from the press intothe molds. The press, as disclosed in the above mentioned pendingapplication, consists of a lower member 22 having spaced holes for thepassage of the rubber to the molds and a plunger 23 for forcing therubber through the registering holes into the mold.

After the sheet 11 is laid on the bottom mold 12, the mid-section of themold is lowered and the pairs of bars 16 which form the mid-section arebrought together to form mold cavities for the parts 5 and 6 of themember 4. The upper section 17 and the press are then lowered againstthe section 16 and the rubber forced into the molds. After the molds arefilled the upper section 17 and the press sections are elevated breakingThe strips of each pair are mounted so that 2%) for forming the valvesections 7 After the valves 4 are molded in place against. the sheet 11the sheet is transferred to a cap making machine which cuts out a diskof metal concentric with each valve 4 and simultaneously forms the capsall as described in said application.

hollow out the bottom faces of the cutting and forming dies to receivethe spouts 8 which project through the holes in the metal.

The closures as described may be crown cap attaching machines by alsoshaping the cap feeding members and the cap applying members toaccommodate the upstanding pin and spout of the cap. In the standard capapplying machines the caps are fed to the applying heads along spacedsupports on which the marginal edges of the caps rest as they movedownwardly by gravity to the The same mechanism can be used for guidingthe caps of the present application to the applying ing the connectingmembers between the so as to bridge over the pin and spout. Also ofcourse, the applying plunger must be hollowed out at the end so as notto engage the pin and spout when the rim of the plunger forces the caponto the container.

In Fig. 6 we have shown a modification of our prethe upper edge of theneck closures are applied. As the contents of the can are dischargedthrough the valve the can need not be opened by the user and a permanentseal such as aiforded by stead there is an upstanding molded rubber tobe pressed by the user when the contents of the container are to bedischarged. Where the internal pressure in the container is low thevalve may be readily opened by mere downward pressure on the button 31but when the internal pressure is fairly high the pin is desirable as itmay be readily tilted outwardly when it is pressed to thereby confinethe initial opening of the valve to a small portion at one side. as thevalve is partially open the internal pressure is equalized so thatfurther opening is readily accomplished.

Instead of molding the rubber valve to the metal caps the valve and capsmay be separately made and successively applied to the containerswithout added labor cost. The rubber valve without the cap may be fedfrom one source under an applying plunger and the caps thereafterapplied by a second plunger.

In Fig. 8 we have shown a further modification wherein the valve is madeentirely of rubber with no overlying metal cap. Instead of the overlyingmetal cap the gasket portion of the rubber valve is provided at itsouter edge with a downwardly extending flange 34 terminating in aninternal head 35 which engages under the neck of the can at the sametime that the valve is thrust into the neck opening in the mannerdescribed. This valve projection or button 31 of without metalattachments provides a suitable closure for the container except wherethe internal pressure is substantial.

is pushed down over the cap after it is applied to the container.

In the foregoing specificationand accompanying drawings We havedisclosed several forms of our improved container and closuresthereforbut it will be understood that our invention is not limited turesdisclosed may be variouslymodified within the scope of the appendedclaims.

We claim:

I. A container having a neck opening with an internal flange and anexternal shoulder, a closure for said container having a portionunderlying said shoulder to hold againstsaid internal flange, ing adischarge opening for the egress of fluid discharged through said valvewhen said mid portion is depressed to open said valve.

2. The container of claim .1 wherein said discharge opening consists ofan upstanding spout integral with said a sealed outer end which isremoved for the initial discharge ofthe container contents.

1 wherein said closure conmetal with an enclosed valve portion of moldedcompressible material with the margin of the cap underlying the flangeof the container and with a portion of the compressible material betweenthe metal cap and the neck of the container.

4. The container of claim 3 wherein the mid portion of the closureprojects above the surface of the metal cap to facilitate the depressionof the mid portion to open the valve.

5. The container. of claim pin is set in the flexible mid portion of theclosure at one side of its center to facilitate opening the valve.

6. A closure for containers having a neck with an internal and anexternal shoulder comprising a metal cap having a marginal portionadapted to be pressed under the external shoulder of the container, amolded rubber valve member enclosed in said cap, said member having agasket portion coextensive with the inner face of the cap, a valveportion adapted to i 1 wherein an upstanding References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,400,193 Whitaker Dec. 13,1921 2,376,404 Thorns May 22, 1945 2,662,669 Schmidt Dec. 15, 1953thereto and that the struc-

